Postpartum depression | |
---|---|
Other names | Postnatal depression |
Postpartum Depression Venus, a representation of the loss and emptiness felt after childbirth | |
Specialty | Psychiatry |
Symptoms | Extreme sadness, low energy, anxiety, changes in sleeping or eating patterns, crying episodes, irritability[1] |
Usual onset | A week to a month after childbirth[1] |
Causes | Unclear[1] |
Risk factors | Prior postpartum depression, bipolar disorder, family history of depression, psychological stress, complications of childbirth, lack of support, drug use disorder[1] |
Diagnostic method | Based on symptoms[2] |
Differential diagnosis | Baby blues[1] |
Treatment | Counselling, medications[2] |
Frequency | ~15% of births[1] |
Postpartum depression (PPD), also called postnatal depression, is a mood disorder experienced after childbirth, which can affect men and women.[3] Symptoms may include extreme sadness, low energy, anxiety, crying episodes, irritability, and changes in sleeping or eating patterns.[1] PPD can also negatively affect the newborn child.[4][2]
While the exact cause of PPD is unclear, the cause is believed to be a combination of physical, emotional, genetic, and social factors.[1][5] These may include factors such as hormonal changes and sleep deprivation.[1][6] Risk factors include prior episodes of postpartum depression, bipolar disorder, a family history of depression, psychological stress, complications of childbirth, lack of support, or a drug use disorder.[1] Diagnosis is based on a person's symptoms.[2] While most women experience a brief period of worry or unhappiness after delivery, postpartum depression should be suspected when symptoms are severe and last over two weeks.[1]
Among those at risk, providing psychosocial support may be protective in preventing PPD.[7] This may include community support such as food, household chores, mother care, and companionship.[8] Treatment for PPD may include counseling or medications.[2] Types of counseling that are effective include interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and psychodynamic therapy.[2] Tentative evidence supports the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).[2]
Postpartum depression affects roughly 8.9 to 10.1% of women in high-income countries and 17.8 to 19.7% of women in low and middle-income countries.[9] Postpartum depression commonly affects mothers who have experienced stillbirth, live in urban areas and adolescent mothers.[10] Moreover, this mood disorder is estimated to affect 1% to 26% of new fathers.[3] Postpartum psychosis, a more severe form of postpartum mood disorder, occurs in about 1 to 2 per 1,000 women following childbirth.[11] Postpartum psychosis is one of the leading causes of the murder of children less than one year of age, which occurs in about 8 per 100,000 births in the United States.[12]
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